Versatile singer Tanya Rose dies at 74

Whether she was singing a spiritual gospel hymn, a bluegrass tune or a “somebody-done-somebody-wrong” country song, Tanya Rose always sought to stay true to the music and sing from the heart.

A part of the San Diego folk music scene in the early 1960s, Mrs. Rose was a popular performer at local coffeehouses for many years and appeared on a local TV show hosted by a young Regis Philbin. In recent years, she performed at several area music events, including the Adams Avenue Roots Festival.

A longtime San Diegan, she served as treasurer and newsletter editor of the San Diego Folk Song Society and was active with the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum and the San Diego Bluegrass Society.

Mrs. Rose died of pancreatic cancer April 25 at her La Mesa home. She was 74.

She had “star quality” but was not one to look for stardom or fame, said friend Allen Singer. “She upheld the traditions of old country (music). … She was a very good traditional singer, one of the best in the area,” he said.

Folk singer Sam Hinton was the catalyst for Mrs. Rose’s musical career, said Singer, who interviewed Mrs. Rose for a 2006 article that appeared in the San Diego Troubadour, a music publication. She was in elementary school when she heard Hinton play an instrument fashioned out of a garden hose during one of his many visits to San Diego schools. Singer said it fascinated her.

Mrs. Rose would go on to learn to play the guitar and develop her singing voice without any formal training. “She had clear, beautiful tones and was always in key. She had a true voice,” Singer said.

She also had a facility with languages and could perform a Yiddish song and a passionate Mexican corrido or folk ballad as easily as she could belt out old Roy Acuff tunes. Her versatility and wide range allowed her to sing harmony with just about anybody, said her husband, Larry Rose. “She was the queen of folk music in San Diego in the 1960s,” Rose said. The local folk music scene’s popularity died down quite a bit “after Bob Dylan went electric,” Rose said.

She continued performing at local schools over the years, but it wasn’t until about 10 years ago that she re-emerged as a force in the local folk music scene. She played with several groups, including her own Buffalo Chip Kickers.

“She was a great champion of roots music,” said Lou Curtiss, local music historian and founder of Folk Arts Rare Records. “She was everybody’s best friend. She was always upbeat and very supportive of people making music.”

Liz Abbott, co-publisher of the Troubadour, said Mrs. Rose was very active in the folk music community. “She was friendly and warm, she had such a sweet voice and always had a smile,” Abbott said. “She had this warm glow about her. You just felt good being around her.”

Mrs. Rose was born March 30, 1937, in San Francisco to Ann and Everett Garrow. She grew up in San Diego and graduated from Point Loma High School. She married Larry Rose in 1968.

In addition to music, Mrs. Rose enjoyed gardening and painting. She was an expert seamstress who made her own clothes and enjoyed baking pies and cakes from scratch. She made custom-designed Christmas ornaments for many years, and her hobby turned into a small business for a time.

Mrs. Rose is survived by her husband, Larry of La Mesa; two sisters, Dixie Carlson of Sedona, Ariz., and Metta Holman of Clarksville, Ark.; and three brothers, Ivan Newton of Lemon Grove, Richard Newton of Lemon Grove and Jon Newton of Clarksville, Ark.